January 3—How were the
causes of WWI and WWII
similar? Different?
European Causes of World
War II
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I. German aggression
II. Italian aggression
III. Anti-Comintern Pact
IV. Austria
V. Munich Pact
VI.Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
IB Objectives
 Long-term, short-term and immediate
causes
 Economic, ideological, political, religious
causes
IB Paper 2 Sample
Questions
 Compare and contrast the reasons for
Germany’s involvement in the First and
Second World Wars.
 Analyse (a) the long-term causes and (b)
the short-term causes, of the Second
World War.
 Compare and contrast the causes of the
First World War and the Second World
War.
IB Paper 2 Sample
Questions
 Assess the social and economic causes
of one twentieth-century war.
Key Terms
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Appeasement
Axis Powers
Anti-Comintern Pact
Munich Pact
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
World Wars: Causes and
Effects
•Economic
Competition
•End of Old Order
•Nationalism
•Disillusionment
•Militarism
•Resentment
•Alliances
•Economic Suffering
•Political instability
•Social Chaos
•Nationalism
•Rise of dictatorships
World War I
•Aggressive
Expansion
World
War II
•Shift in balance of power
•Emergence of superpowers
•Creation of new nations
•Founding of United Nations
German aggression
 In March 1935 Hitler violated the
disarmament clause of the Treaty of
Versailles and introduced compulsory
military training
 In 1936 German troops occupied the
demilitarized zone of the Rhineland.
France’s Response
 France refused to respond to Hitler’s
aggression in large part because the
Great Depression had caused political
instability in France.
 When Hitler invaded the Rhineland the
French were so divided politically that
they could not agree on how to deal with
Germany.
Appeasement
 France and Britain followed a policy of
appeasement which means that they
were willing to yield to the demands of
dictators in the belief that once these
demands were satisfied the dictators
would become good members of the
family of nations.
 As late a 1938 Britain only spent ¼ as
much on armaments as Germany.
Italian aggression
 In October 1935 Italy attacked Ethiopia
from Italian Somalia.
 The League of Nations imposed
sanctions on Italy but the economic
sanctions were never enforced and Italy
soon occupied Ethiopia.
Axis Powers
 The sanctions angered Mussolini so he
made an alliance with Hitler.
 Mussolini spoke of Rome and Berlin as
forming a political “Axis.” The term was
subsequently applied to the GermanItalian-Japanese alliance.
Anti-Comintern Pact
 In November 1936, Germany and Japan
signed the Anti-Comintern Pact,
supposedly directed against international
Communism, but in reality a treaty of
friendship.
 Italy signed a year later.
German Strategy
 Germany would attain its peak military
strength in 1943-1945, and this would be
the latest date for launching war, but it
could begin earlier.
 Hitler’s goal in 1938 was to neutralize
Austria and Czechoslovakia in order to
protect Germany’s southern flank for
future military actions against France and
the USSR.
Austria
 In March 1938 the Austrians voted to
join Germany.
 This action violated the Versailles Treaty
but since Austria had voluntarily joined
Germany they did nothing.
Munich Pact
 The ultimate example of appeasement
 Occurred in 1938
 Hitler’s goal was to neutralize Austria and
Czechoslovakia to protect Germany’s
southern flank for future military
operations against France and the Soviet
Union.
Munich Pact
 According to Hitler all he wanted was to
bring the Germans who against their will
had been separated from Germany into
it, especially the Austrians and the
German minority in the Sudeten region of
Czechoslovakia.
Munich Pact
 Hitler invited the British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain, the French Premier
Edouard Daladier, and Mussolini to a
meeting in Munich.
 Chamberlain and Daladier accepted
Hitler’s terms and then put enormous
pressure on Czechoslovakia to annex the
territory.
Munich Pact
 This area contained Czechoslovakia's
mountainous fortifications and its loss left
Czechoslovakia militarily defenseless.
 Hitler promised to guarantee the integrity
of what remained of Czechoslovakia, but
in March the German army occupied the
remainder of Czechoslovakia.
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression
Pact
 August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany
signed a treaty of nonaggression and friendship.
 The secret agreement stated that in case of war
they would divide Poland between them, that the
Soviet Union would have a “sphere of influence”
over Finland , the Baltic States, and Bessarabia.
In return the Soviets pledged to stay out of any
war between Germany and Poland and any
countries that came to Poland’s aid.